(2nd place) Roland VGA-7 was very cool. I am a big Roland JC-120 fan, and was looking for that fat clean sound. The VGA-7 had it, but... It was so heavy (80+ lbs), and I am not looking for a modeling amp. They had a VGA-5 as well, but it didn't have the great low-end that the VGA-7 had.

(3rd place) Fender Blues Deluxe, overall best sound. Fender really voices their amps to work with their guitars, (mine was a 1988 Fender American Standard Tele), and this combo rocked! I considered buying this amp, but it was over my price range, and had a rattle that the shop couldn't explain. If it hadn't rattled, it would be in my house right now.

(4th place) Peavey Stereo Chorus 212. I went into the shop to buy this amp, but it had rattles, (that were fixed while we waited), but still didn't have the low-end definition that I was expecting from a 2x12 stereo chorus amp. (My Roland JC-120 spoiled me).

Coolest surprise of the day: Orange Crush 10. This thing was amazing! They worked really hard to make it not sound like a small practice amp, (though it still did). To tell the truth, I just found out that it was a 6" speaker in this amp. I was torn between an 8" or 10" when I was demo-ing. It sounds that good!

What went home with me?

(1st place) Peavey ValveKing 112. I was going to ignore this amp, but Mark was busy with another customer, so I thought I would just take it for a spin. Wow! This had the tube-sound that I like, the size that wouldn't kill, and the price I was looking for. I shouldn't have been surprised, as my all-time favorite amp was a 1990's Peavey Classic 50 4x10.